Letter: Wrong festival focus

Shame on The Recorder for only focusing on a tiny minority of the StrangeCreek Music Festival instead of 7,000 attendees, vendors and music acts that traveled from all over, spent their out-of-town dollars at our gas stations, restaurants and shops that had an enjoyable time in our valley watching nationally recognized recording acts. The regurgitation of the police log does nothing more than reinforce a negative stereotype that has followed this festival since its inception; perpetuating uninformed comments and basing opinions without any firsthand knowledge that completely ignores the true nature of this event. The lack of news coverage regarding this semiannual tradition is unprecedented when compared to the Gas Engine show, Green River Festival, Mutton & Mead and Franklin County Fair. Yes, there are medical emergencies that require an ambulance, but the same level of scrutiny in reporting is ignored for Good Sam’s, the Fair and BoneFrog Challenge at Berkshire East. No mentions about their self-induced medical transports to the ER ,which have the same impact on our community as the ones from StrangeCreek — which is very little to none at all. The police and EMT details are paid for by StrangeCreek and not by taxpayers, including the additional crews to patrol Leyden Road. No event has a larger detail except for the fair. Add in the private security and no other event comes close. The police are there to enforce state law and make it a safe environment for all who attend. Just because there is a plan in place to treat those who go to excess doesn’t mean that illicit behavior is condoned. All I ask is to put aside personal biases and prejudices, take an objective look at the festivals and treat them like the newsworthy events they are.